CALCIUM FORMATE MARKET SIZE AND SHARE ANALYSIS - GROWTH TRENDS AND FORECASTS (2024-2031)

The calcium formate Market size is valued US$ 860 Million in 2024 and is expected to reach US$ 1,250 Million by 2031, growing at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 5.5%  from 2024 to 2031. Calcium formate is an inorganic salt that contains calcium and formate ions. It is primarily used as an animal feed additive. There are two main types of calcium formate available - anhydrous and hydrated form.

Anhydrous calcium formate contains only calcium and formate ions and does not have any water molecules. It is produced synthetically through the reaction of calcium oxide with formic acid. Anhydrous form has higher calcium content, making it more suitable for animal feed applications where calcium supplementation is important. However, the anhydrous form is hygroscopic in nature, meaning it easily absorbs moisture from the air, which can cause clumping and other handling issues.

Hydrated calcium formate contains calcium and formate ions along with water molecules. It is commonly produced as a by-product during the production of other chemicals, like silage additives. While the hydrated form has a lower calcium content than the anhydrous, its water molecules offer some advantages. It is less hygroscopic, less reactive, and easier to handle compared to anhydrous calcium formate. However, the water content also reduces its overall calcium density.

In summary, both anhydrous and hydrated calcium formate have their pros and cons depending on the end-use requirement. The right selection helps optimize functionality and cost-effectiveness for various animal feed and industrial applications.

Calcium Formate Market Regional Insights:

• Asia Pacific: The market in the Asia Pacific region is projected to hold the largest market share 35%, driven by the growing demand for Calcium Formate Market in infrastructural development, construction activities, and the growing demand for animal feed additives.  
• North America: North America holds the second largest market share in The Calcium Formate Market, owing to 30% high demand for calcium formate market in the infrastructure development, rising urbanization and the presence of major players in the region.
• Europe: The Calcium Formate Market in Europe holds 25% in the market and the presence of major players in the region. 

Figure 1. Global Calcium Formate Market Share (%), by Region, 2024

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Calcium Formate Market Analyst Viewpoint:

The calcium formate market is poised to grow at a steady pace over the forecast period. The growing demand from the construction sector will be a key driver for market growth. Calcium formate is used as an additive in concrete to improve its workability and strength. Growing infrastructure development activities globally are increasing the demand for concrete, which in turn is expected to boost consumption of calcium formate.

Another driver for the market will be its use as a feed additive in the animal feed industry. Calcium formate offers various benefits, such as improving digestibility, the absorption of minerals, and weight gain in livestock. The meat industry is booming across regions like Asia Pacific and Latin America, which is likely to fuel demand.

One of the restraints could be the availability of substitute products. Products such as calcium chloride and calcium nitrate can be used in similar applications as calcium formate. This may limit the demand growth of calcium formate to some extent.

The Asia Pacific region, especially China and India, represents major opportunities. Both countries are witnessing tremendous growth in the infrastructure and construction industries due to rising urbanization. This presents huge market potential for calcium formate producers and manufacturers to tap into these lucrative markets.

Calcium Formate Market Drivers:

• Calcium Formate as an Animal Feed Preservative: Calcium formate finds widespread application as an animal feed preservative across various regions globally. As an efficient feed preservative, it helps extend the shelf-life of compounded animal feed and prevents deterioration caused by mold and other microbes. With the rising demands for meat and dairy products, animal agriculture has significantly expanded in recent years. This has necessitated effective preservation of compounded cattle feed over a longer duration. Calcium formate effectively controls the growth of various spoilage microorganisms in animal feed due to its antimicrobial properties. It reduces the moisture content in feed through moisture absorption, depriving microbes of the suitable environment needed for proliferation. Its preservative action retains the palatability, nutritive value, and freshness of feed over longer storage periods. This ensures continuous feed intake by livestock, promoting better health and performance. It preserves vitamins, proteins and minerals in feed from damage during storage and transport. The ability of calcium formate to prevent quality deterioration of feed over time saves considerable wastage and reduces procurement frequency and logistic costs for farmers. With rising animal husbandry, compounded feed production has increased manifold in recent decades. However, distribution and supply chain networks for feed are often located at distant locations from farms. This requires feed to be stored for longer periods before use. Calcium formate effectively addresses the preservation needs of such supply chains. Its use helps feed producers and farmers ensure continuous and consistent supply of high quality feed throughout the year. This supports sustainable and large scale meat and dairy production globally. For Instances, According to data from the U.S. Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), nearly 8% of global animal feed is lost or wasted annually, primarily due to a lack of proper preservation methods.
• Dry Calcium Formate Application in Cement Industry: Cement industry is a major end-use sector driving the demand for calcium formate. As a popular drying agent, calcium formate finds widespread application in controlling moisture in cement during manufacturing and packaging processes. The presence of moisture or water in cement is undesirable as it can impair cement's strength and setting properties over time. In the cement production process, calcium formate is introduced just before cement packaging. As a highly efficient and non-corrosive drying agent, it absorbs free moisture from the cement surface and prevents the reunification of hydrates back into the final product. This ensures cement remains dry during storage and transportation, retaining its cohesive properties and ability to achieve proper setting and hardening. Even marginal moisture absorption can impair the performance of cement drastically. Calcium formate allows cement plants to produce and ship top-quality, consistently dry cement nationwide and overseas. This has become critical for cement brands to maintain high performance standards and reputations. Its use helps boost plant output and reduce rejections arising from moisture related issues. It supports just-in-time manufacturing and supply systems of the industry. Cement producers find calcium formate favorable compared to alternatives as it is easy to handle and does not interfere with cement chemistry or leave unwanted residues. Owing to massive infrastructure development worldwide, cement demand is witnessing strong growth. This has put pressure on cement players to ramp up dry output consistently to meet construction schedules. Calcium formate effectively addresses the moisture control needs of large-volume plants. It plays a key role in enabling uninterrupted cement supply to major development projects globally. This drives its increasing consumption patterns in the long run. For instance, the World Bank also predicts that global investments in infrastructure will need to increase by around US$ 15 trillion by 2040 to match projected demand.

Calcium Formate Market Opportunities:

• Emerging applications in textile dyeing and printing: Emerging applications in textile dyeing and printing using calcium formate provide a great opportunity to drive growth in the calcium formate market. Calcium formate is an important mordant (fixative) used for improving dye uptake and fastness properties in textile dyeing. It helps in the better absorption of dyestuffs into fabric fibers and provides brighter, longer lasting and wash-fast colors. With the global textile industry evolving towards more sustainable and eco-friendly dyeing practices, calcium formate has emerged as a viable bio-based alternative to traditional heavy metal-based mordants like chromium and aluminum salts. Calcium formate provides significant benefits over other traditional mordants as it does not contain any toxic heavy metals. It improves the overall texture and feel of dyed fabrics, along with ensuring colors remain vibrant even after several washes. This has led to a growing acceptance of calcium formate among textile manufacturers. For instance, as per data from Textile Dye Manufacturers Association, India, 2021, Dye manufacturers in India, one of the largest textile exporters, have begun adopting calcium formate on a larger scale for dyeing cotton and polyester blend materials meant for apparel, home textiles, and technical textiles export markets.
• Increasing Research and development (R&D) activities: Calcium formate has wide applications across various industries like construction, animal feed, cement, and others. With growing application areas and demand, investing in R&D can help explore new uses of calcium formate and drive more innovation. Several countries have recognized this and are supporting R&D activities. R&D allows companies to discover new methods of producing calcium formate more efficiently and sustainably. This can reduce production costs in the long run and make calcium formate more affordable for its growing end use industries. Moreover, R&D makes it possible to create new calcium formate grades suitable for diverse applications. For instance, according to The Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) data from 2022, countries like Germany spent 3.1% of its GDP on R&D in 2020, higher than most other developed nations.

Calcium Formate Market Trends:

• Rising demand for non-hazardous preservatives: The demand for safer and more environmentally-friendly preservatives across various end-use industries like food, feed, construction, and others has been steadily increasing over the past few years. More consumers are looking for products with a clean label that do not contain harsh chemicals. This rising focus on clean labels and non-hazardous ingredients is positively impacting the calcium formate market. Calcium formate is a non-toxic and biodegradable salt that acts as an effective preservative, moisture regulator, and pH stabilizer. It can be used as a replacement for traditional preservatives like formalin and propionic acid, which pose health and environmental risks. The food industry in particular has shown strong interest in replacing current chemical preservatives with safer alternatives like calcium formate. For instance, according to a 2021 report by the UN Food and Agriculture Organization, over 30% of food manufacturers worldwide planned to remove potentially hazardous chemicals from their products and opt for natural alternatives.
• Shift towards eco-friendly chemicals: The increasing focus on sustainability and eco-friendliness is having a significant impact on the calcium formate market. Many companies across various end-use industries are actively pursuing greener chemical alternatives to traditional options in order to reduce their carbon footprint and appeal to environmentally conscious consumers. Calcium formate fits well with this trend, as it is a more sustainable preservative and dust suppressant compared to other chemicals. Calcium formate is biodegradable and breaks down harmlessly in the environment without releasing toxic or hazardous substances. It can help reduce pollution and minimize risks to soil and groundwater quality over the long run. This makes it an attractive proposition for industries like construction, mining, and agriculture. For instance, as per the U.S. Department of Agriculture, European Environment Agency, Several agriculture departments and environmental protection agencies globally have published reports highlighting the long-term economic and environmental advantages of alternatives like calcium formate.

Calcium Formate Market Restraints:

• Availability of substitutes: The availability of substitutes is one of the major restraining factors for the growth of the calcium formate market. Calcium formate has applications mainly as a feed additive in the animal feed industry and as a corrosion inhibitor; however, there are many substitutes available that can be used instead of calcium formate. The availability of close substitutes poses a significant challenge for calcium formate market players to prevent potential customers from shifting to alternatives. It limits the scope of demand growth potential of calcium formate over the long term if substitutes continue to gain more penetration. This is a major factor restricting the anticipation of high growth rates for the global calcium formate market going forward. For instance, as per U.S. Environmental Protection Agency data from 2020, nearly 45% of industrial segments that previously used calcium formate have shifted to substitutes like calcium nitrate in recent years, mainly due to stringent environmental regulations restricting the use of formates.
• Counterbalance: Examine alternatives to calcium formate in its various applications, such as other accelerators or additives, which could potentially counterbalance market growth.
• Stringent environment regulations: Stringent environmental regulations across various countries are expected to restrain the growth of the calcium formate market to some extent in the coming years. Governments worldwide are increasingly imposing strict norms to curb harmful industrial emissions and promote sustainable production methods. Calcium formate is majorly used as an additive in concrete to accelerate the setting and hardening process. However, the production of calcium formate involves the emission of small amounts of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) and other gases that are damaging to the environment if not treated properly. Several developed nations in Europe and North America have progressively lowered the maximum allowed limits for VOCs in industrial discharge. Non-compliance can attract heavy fines and penalties. This compels calcium formate manufacturers to install advanced emission control technologies in their production units. Upgrading existing plants as per changing emission standards demands significant capital investments and operating costs.

Recent Developments:

In September 2020, CPS Performance Materials, a prominent producer of specialty and fine chemicals, completed the acquisition of GEO Specialty Chemicals. This strategic move was aimed at enhancing CPS's portfolio of specialty chemicals and reinforcing its standing in the market. CPS Performance Materials is a specialty chemicals company with three business units: GEO Specialty Chemicals, FAR Chemical, and RutgersSC. The company focuses on end markets where performance counts, including specialty coatings, eyecare materials, pharmaceutical intermediates, animal and human nutrition ingredients, and specialty additives used in a wide range of construction applications. CPS Performance Materials provides chemical light solutions. The Company offers performance polymers, fine chemicals, and chemical illumination solutions. CPS Performance Materials serves US and NATO military forces, other commercial, and law enforcement markets globally. GEO Specialty Chemicals is a company that provides high-quality, cost-effective specialty chemicals. They supply water treatment chemicals, coating and resin additives, specialty acrylic monomers, consumer additives, dispersants, surfactants, and oil well drilling lubricants.

Figure 2. Global Calcium Formate Market Share (%), by End-use, 2023

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 Top companies in Calcium Formate Market

• SIDLEY CHEMICAL CO., LTD.,
• Zouping Fenlian Biotech Co., Ltd.,
• American Elements,
• Wujiang yingchuang chemical co., ltd.,
• Minerals Technologies Inc.,
• Cerne Calcium Company,
• LANXESS,
• Perstorp Holding AB,
• Chongqing Chuandong Chemical (Group) Co. Ltd.,
• Zibo ruibao chemical Co., LTD.,
• Henan Botai Chemical Building Material Co., Ltd.,
• Shandong Baoyuan Chemical Co. Ltd,
• Jiangxi Kosin Frontier Technology Co., Ltd.

Definition: Calcium formate is an organic molecular entity and the calcium salt of formic acid, with the molecular formula Ca(HCOO)2. It is a white solid that is soluble in water and is formed by the reaction of calcium carbonate, or hydroxide, and formic acid. Calcium formate is used as a nutrient supplement to the feed of young, growing pigs or as a fattening further boosting the growth of animals and the feed utilization. It also reduces the occurrence of piglet diarrhea. Calcium formate can also be used as a replacement for formic acid in the pickling operation.